CASE STUDY
Broad Quay House in Bristol, an eight-floor, multi-tenanted building in the heart of the business district. Tenants include Just Eat, Regus maintained offices and super-computer company Cray UL Ltd.
Asset management: building modelling, electrical engineering and project management.
This case was a classic example of how a straight-forward risk assessment under the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards led to more substantial improvements for a client because of Resero's technical electrical expertise. In this case, ASI required an EPC model and recommendations on the changes needed to improve the building’s existing poor energy rating. It needed to achieve a minimum “E” rating, to ensure legislative compliance.
Resero was able to confirm the existing poor EPC rating was correct as well as breaking down the various electrical consumption ranges by different tenants.
Various scenarios were then modelled that would improve the rating using sophisticated dynamic simulation software. This showed that if the client converted to an LED lighting scheme then the building would not only achieve the desired ‘E’ rating but would also reduce overall energy consumption and require less maintenance.
Resero prepared a project specification and undertook the management of all work required, including tendering and project management. Work and power shut-downs were undertaken out of hours followed by careful cleaning each night to ensure minimum disruption to the daily business of tenants.
In addition to the basic changes required for legislative compliance, Resero was also able to identify further opportunities to improve the daily running and efficiency of the building.
This included switching from a Direct Network Operator (DNO) supplied system to a Building Network Operator (BNO) supplied system to enable automated billing of electricity bills. Changing to a BNO system allowed the tenants to have more flexibility around choosing suppliers and managing their own energy consumption.
It was also determined that all existing electrical usage could be put onto a single transformer instead of the two currently being used. This would mean the building now has standby capacity that can be utilised in the case of any future works being required to the primary transformer.
The mains distribution upgrade required coordinated weekend power shutdowns to avoid tenant disruption whilst ensuring planned works were tested and completed on time.